Attachment and emotion regulation

Question 1

According to Mikulincer & Shaver, what are the three steps of activating attachment strategies?

Answer 1

1) Activation = proximity seeking
2) Consequences of proximity seeking
3) If 2 fails, secondary strategies

Question 2

How is Mikulincer & Shavers 3 step hypothesis linked to neural circuits?

Answer 2

Neural circuits support each pathway

Reinforced with repeated use

Question 3

Why will an individual be able to cope/recover faster after repeated attachment activation experiences?

Answer 3

CGs are evaluated as available and responsive

Question 4

What is the secure base script?

Answer 4

a) Communicating/acknowledging distress
b) Seeking proximity
c) Problem solving

Question 5

Is threat evaluated subjectively or objectively?

Answer 5

Subjectively

Question 6

With threat, whats more important - its perception or reality?

Answer 6

Perception

Question 7

What can account for differences between hyperactivating/deactivation of attachment pathways between people?

Answer 7

Individual differences

Question 8

How does the threshold for attachment activation change with age?

Answer 8

In adulthood, the threshold for threat is MUCH higher, taking longer

Question 9

Encounters with threat ______ activate the attachment system

Answer 9

Automatically

Question 10

When the attachment system is activated, what is the goal and how is it gained?

Answer 10

Security

Proximity/comfort of CG

Question 11

Are we aware of the activation of the attachment system?

Answer 11

No - it is preconscious

Question 12

What does preconscious activation of the attachment system result in?

Answer 12

Higher accessibility of security-providing cognitions

Question 13

The activated nodes become ready for use, affecting an individuals state of mind before…..

Answer 13

They even experience any sign of this in their stream of consciousness

Question 14

Why doesn’t preconscious activation always lead to actual proximity seeking?

Answer 14

ACTIVATION of MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS of caring can create a sense of safety

Question 15

Why might preconscious activation lead to actual proximity seeking?

Answer 15

Mental representations will not always be adequate

Question 16

How can secure individuals help resolve distressing episodes?

Answer 16

They can create self-soothing reappraisals

Question 17

Secure attachment is related to ______ ________ regarding the regulation of negative moods

Answer 17

Positive expectations

Question 18

In terms of threat, what is an anxious attachment style associated with?

Answer 18

Extreme perception of threat

Deficient coping resources

Question 19

In terms of threat, what is an avoidant attachment style associated with?

Answer 19

Similar to secure
Appraise coping methods as adequate
Find stressful events highly threatening/may break down

Question 20

Which study illustrated the effect of THREAT on the three attachment styles?

Answer 20

Meredith, Strong & Feeney

Study of chronic pain

Question 21

Kirkpatrick et al examined women’s ______ responses too…

Answer 21

Physiological responses

Stressful events either with or without romantic partners

Question 22

What did Kirkpatrick find regarding women’s physiological responses in the without/presence of their partners?

Answer 22

Secure - same both w/w/o

Insecure - INCREASED w partners

Question 23

What evidence illustrates that romantic partners may add to an insecure individuals distress?

Answer 23

Physiological responses to stressful events

Question 24

When perceiving facial expressions, which attachment style will detect the offset of emotion in the face quicker?

Answer 24

Anxious

Question 25

When perceiving facial expressions, which attachment style will detect the offset of emotion in the face the slowest?

Answer 25

Avoidant

Question 26

What does facial-expression evidence suggest?

Answer 26

Attachment style can influence attention to & encoding of emotions in the environment

Question 27

In terms of emotional regulation, how can a securely attached woman regulate theirs?

Answer 27

Direct effort to emotional generation process

Reappraise situation constructively

Question 28

How do anxiously attached women view negative emotional states?

Answer 28

Worth sustaining/exaggerating

Intensify emotions that call for attention

Question 29

Why might anxiously attached women AVOID problem solving/

Answer 29

Fear of losing attention

Question 30

Why do anxiously attached women see negative emotions as states worth sustaining/exaggerating?

Answer 30

Congruent with attachment goals (proximity)

Question 31

How to avoidant women perceive negative emotional states?

Answer 31

Worth inhibiting - do not allow emotions to be brought into conscious awareness

Question 32

Why do avoidant women inhibit emotional states?

Answer 32

Incongruent with their goal of inhibiting the attachment system

Question 33

Avoidant women suppress emotions that imply emotional involvement. True or false?

Answer 33

True

Question 34

Avoidant women exaggerate negative mood states as a call for attention. True or false?

Answer 34

False

Question 35

Avoidant women have perfected a strategy of….

Answer 35

Denying the need for intimate relationships

Question 36

In the 2nd stage of Mikulincer and Shavers integrative model on the attachment behavioural system, what will an individual do if their proximity seeking quest was not initially helpful?

Answer 36

Secondary strategies activated

Question 37

Mikulincer and Shavers integrative model on attachment

Neural circuits supporting each pathway around the model are…

Answer 37

Reinforced over time

With repeated use

Question 38

Why are avoidant individuals especially prone to defensive self enhancement?

Answer 38

Reluctance to rely on others

Leads to compulsive self reliance